MultiChoice Talent Factory: We are reinforcing commitment to Africa’s creative industry— Yolisa Phale

The MultiChoice Talent Factory (MTF) initiative has been described as an indication of the company’s commitment to growing and developing African creative industries. This was said during a press brunch hosted by MultiChoice last Friday, to engage with Pan-African media and stakeholders about their role in creating shared value for the industry by investing in local content while igniting the future of Africa’s creative industry through MultiChoice Talent Factory.

The session was led by a panel which included members of the MultiChoice leadership including Yolisa Phahle, Video Entertainment CEO, MultiChoice General Entertainment; John Ugbe, Managing Director, MultiChoice Nigeria and Nkateko Mabaso, Acting CEO, M-Net SSA.

In his remarks, Ugbe said that the MTF was established to ensure better production of African stories, which will not only resonate with Africans but also with audiences around the world, because according to him, there is a need to take African content to the rest of the world.

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Echoing similar sentiments, Phahle, said the MTF is MultiChoice’s way of contributing to the countries in which the company operates as well as a way of magnifying the opportunities for African storytelling, adding that the world is ready to embrace African storytelling in an unprecedented way. On her part, Cheryl Uys-Allie, Director, MultiChoice Talent Factory, explained that the initiative is about developing the skills of local filmmakers and the growth of the local film industries. She explained that the initiative was launched in May 2018 in Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya, the three countries that will host the MultiChoice academies. Each academy will provide 20 students with a full-year academic programme in various aspects of filmmaking. The 60 students, who resume in October, were selected from 3,108 applicants from across the continent. Berry Lwando, Academy Director, Southern Africa, explained that the selection was done in conjunction with experts in local film industries

Other MultiChoice top shots and experts in attendance at the session included Wangi Mba-Uzuokwu, Channel Director, Africa Magic; Njoki Muhoho, Academy Director East Africa and Femi Odugbemi, Academy Director West Africa.